"And Tycho will be one of them."
"Unfortunately, yes, he may be." Leia's shoulders
slumped with fatigue. "You may not realize how fragile the
New Republic is right now. With her Krytos virus Ysanne
Isard has succeeded in driving a wedge between the human
and non-human members of the New Republic. There have
been accusations that some of us knew the virus was here
and encouraged people to return to their native worlds spe-
cifically to spread the disease and kill off whole planetary
populations. There are others who accuse us of not doing
enough to get bacta to those who need it. If we do try to get
as much as possible here to save as many people as possible,
we drain the military of their supply. If Isard hits back, or
Warlord Zsinj decides to strike at us, we can be devastated.
Trying to buy up supplies of bacta has driven the price higher
than ever before, and to make matters worse, the Ashern
rebels on Thyferra have managed to damage production,
limiting the supply at a time when the demand couldn't be
higher."
She looked up at him. "It's a good thing we don't have a
Treasury Ministry in place, because they'd tell us we're bank-
rupt."
When Wedge realized his mouth was hanging open he
clicked it shut. "I had no idea .... "
"Of course not. Nor does anyone else outside the Coun-
cil. Things are so dire that I'll be heading off to try to open
relations with Hapes and ask them for help--and that's
something that's so secret I'll deny even knowing you if it
gets out."
Wedge nodded. "Already forgotten."
Leia mustered a weak smile. "Frankly speaking, there is
a remote possibility that we can secure enough bacta to save
many of the people who are afflicted by Krytos, but not all.
Even if we cure 95 percent of the cases, those we don't cure
will amount to millions of fatalities--non-human fatalities.
The resentment against the government will rise until the
Alliance falls apart. When that happens, someone like War-
lord Zsinj or Ysanne Isard or who knows who else is lurking
out there can come in and sweep up the pieces."
She shrugged her shoulders. "That shouldn't have any-
thing to do with Tycho, but it does because Tycho is a hu-
man, accused of a heinous crime against a fellow Rebel and a
man who is now a hero. If we do not bring him to trial
quickly and let the trial take its course, we will be accused of
favoring a human. People will suggest that were Tycho a
Gotal or Quarren, we'd have tried, convicted, and executed
him inside of a day. That charge is baseless, but it's critical
we avoid any appearance of favoritism."
"So Tycho gets offered up as a sacrifice to keep the Alli-
ance together?"
"I would have preferred being able to put Ysanne Isard
on trial for having the Krytos virus created and spread, but
she got away--how, I don't know, but she did. We probably
could scoop up a double-handful of Imperial bureaucrats
and put them on trial for past activities, but then the entire
Imperial bureaucracy would go into hiding and any chance
we had of trying to govern the galaxy would go away."
That comment brought Wedge up short. The notion of
using the enemy to administer the territories of the new gov-
ernment struck him as wrong, but then he realized the Alli-
ance military had always welcomed defectors from the other
side into its ranks. Experience was enough to forgive past
sins, especially when things were so critical. "You're right,
creating a government isn't easy or pretty."
"But it's what we have to do."
The logic of her argument was inescapable, but Wedge
bristled at it and didn't want to back down. "Perhaps re-
signing is something I bare to do."
Leia shook her head. "No, no it's not. You're not going
to resign, Wedge."
"Why not? The war's over. There have to be a half-
dozen fueling depots I could buy and operate here on Corus-
cant or back on CoreIlia." He knew he was letting himself be
a bit petulant, but to acquiesce seemed like abandoning
Tycho. I won't do tbat without sufficient reason.
of responsibility that makes you threaten to resign." Leia
smiled at him. "Cracken's people have been doing more than
looking into Tycho's activities. Turns out that Warlord Zsinj
hit a Thyferran bacta convoy and stole a fairly big shipment.
An Ashern rebel was on the convoy and got word out to us
about the location of the space platform where Zsinj has the
convoy docked. The bacta will save a lot of people, but get-
ting our operatives in and back out means someone very
good is going to have to be flying cover for our strike. Rogue
Squadron will be leading the way."
Wedge nodded. "Resign and doom millions, or stay and
watch a friend be destroyed. Not much of a choice."
"Not so, my friend, it is indeed quite a choice. Not an
easy one."
"Oh, the choice is easy, Leia, but living with the result
will not be." Wedge swallowed past the lump choking him.
"You'll let the Council know I've reconsidered my resigna-
tion."
"I'll tell them that you meant the suggestion as a way to
underscore your concern for Captain Celchu." Leia nodded
solemnly. "According to Cracken you'll be briefed inside a
week and then head out. May the Force be with you."
"I'll save the Force for Tycho." Wedge's eyes became
slits. "No matter what sort of reception Zsinj has for us,
what Tycho's going to face will be a million times worse."
4
The prison uniform Tycho Celchu had been given looked
enough like a flightsuit that Wedge Antilles could almost
imagine his friend being free again. The black jumpsuit had
red sleeves and leggings that started at elbow and knee re-
spectively. They also ended well shy of wrist and ankle so the
fabric would not interfere with the operation of the binders
Tycho wore.
Wedge shuddered with anger and embarrassment. ! will
see you free again, my friend.
Tycho looked up and smiled. A bit taller than Wedge,
but with the same lithe build, Tycho was a handsome man
whose blue eyes appeared brighter than Wedge would have
thought possible. Tycho held his hands up in greeting to
Wedge and Nawara Ven, and almost made it seem as if the
binders were not hampering him. He waited patiently as a
guard in a control room opened the transparisteel barrier
separating him from the visitation center, then shuffled in
past his escort.
Wedge rose and started across the sparsely furnished
white room, but Tycho's guard brandished a Stokhli Spray
Stick. "Keep away from the prisoner, Commander."
Wedge felt a hand on his left elbow and turned back to
face the Twi'lek who had accompanied him to the detention
center. "Commander, we're not allowed physical contact
with Tycho--no one is allowed to touch prisoners. It's secu-
rity."
Wedge frowned. "Right."
Nawara Ven skewered the guard with a pink-eyed stare.
"You've done your duty here, now I require you to leave us
alone with my client and my droid here."
The heavyset guard's eyes narrowed, then he tapped the
Stokhli Spray Stick against the palm of his other hand. "I'm
going to be right out there. Anything funny happens, and
you'll be spending a lot of time with this traitor." He turned
and headed back out to the far side of the transparisteel
barrier.
Wedge dropped into one of the four chairs around the
table in the middle of the room. "How are you doing? Is that
guard causing you trouble? Because if he is, I'll do something
about it."
Tycho sat across from him and shrugged. "Voleyy isn't
so bad, he just doesn't like things to get odd on his watch.
Other guards are worse, and if I weren't in solitary confine-
ment, I think the general population would have already
tried and executed me."
"What?" Tycho's comment caught Wedge by surprise.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I thought it was rather self-explanatory." Tycho shook
his head, then smiled up at his friends. "You have to remem-
ber, I've been charged with murder and treason. There are
guards here who are just waiting for an excuse to show the
New Republic how deep their patriotism runs. Some of the
prisoners think they could win a pardon by saving the Re-
public the cost of a trial. I shouldn't think that would come
as a surprise to you, Wedge."
"No, I guess it doesn't, but your reaction to it does. If I
were in your boots, I'd be angry and outraged."
"That's because you've never been a guest in the Em-
pire's correctional system." Tycho sighed and Wedge read
weariness in the way his shoulders sagged. "All the anger
and outrage I can muster won't get me out of here any faster,
and it could get me in trouble."
"But aren't you angry about being imprisoned for some-
thing you didn't do?"
'Yes."
Wedge opened his hands. "Then why don't you show it?
You can't keep it bottled up inside. It'll tear you apart."
Tycho took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
"Wedge, you've always been my friend and you've supported
me with no questions asked, but what I'm enduring now is
really no different than what I endured while being under
house arrest. Sure, I can't go flying, can't head out to Borleias
with Mirax to save Corran's tail, and I'm not free to walk the
streets of Coruscant as your hole card, but nothing has really
changed. Since my capture by the Empire right here on Co-
ruscant I've been their prisoner. I've never really escaped the
Empire because they managed to make others suspicious of
me. I was outraged then and have been since, but protesting
wouldn't do me any good. The only way I can be free, truly
free, is for the Empire to be destroyed. I know, as it falls
apart, someone somewhere will have the information that
will set me free."
"And if they don't?"
Tycho cracked a smile. "You figured out a plan to take
Coruscant away from the Empire. Springing a friend from
prison shouldn't be that hard for you to manage."
Nawara Ven cleared his throat. "Let's not be adding
conspiracy to the charges against you."
Tycho nodded. "As you wish, Counselor. How's my de-
fense going?"
"Good and bad." Nawara Ven sat at the end of the table
and a little green and white R2 unit rolled up beside him.
"The best thing we have going for us right now is that Whis-
tler here has joined our defense team."
"But I'm accused of killing Corran Horn. He and Cor-
ran were partners. Why would he want to help defend me?"
The droid keened a reply.
Wedge smiled. "Ah, he did know Corran well."
The Twi'lek nodded. "Well enough to decide Horn was
wrong about you, Captain Celchu. If Horn was wrong about
your being a traitor, that means someone else killed him.
Since you've been framed for the murder, if Whistler does
nothing to help you, he's ensuring that his friend's murderer
is getting away. Having Whistler on the team is unbelievably
useful because of the specialized circuitry and programming
he has. It allows him to wade through a lot of law enforce-
ment data, including Imperial files."
Tycho shifted around in his chair, making his binders
click against the edge of the table. "I hope the bad news
doesn't obliterate the good."
Nawara's braintails twitched lethargically. "Corran had
reported to Commander Antilles that he saw you in the
Headquarters talking to Kirtan Loor. You said you were
speaking with," Nawara glanced at his datapad, "a Duros
Captain Lai Nootka."
Tycho nodded. "Right. He flew a freighter called tar's
Delight. I was negotiating with him for spare parts for the
Z-95 Headhunters I'd bought."
"Well, no one can seem to find him or his ship. The
prosecution can introduce ample evidence that Kirtan Loor
was here on Coruscant, that Corran would have recognized
him, and that knowing you were exposed, you had to take
steps to cover yourself."
Wedge frowned. "If the only way out of that trap is to
find Nootka, we'll find him."
Whistler tooted a dour message.
Rogue Squadron's commander rubbed his eyes for a mo-
ment to ease their burning. "Fine, fine, there are 247 uniden-
tified bodies of Duros here on Coruscant, and the possibility
exists that the Imps caught him, killed him, and dumped him
so we'll never find him. We can still try to find the ship. The
log might have an entry in it about the meeting."
Tycho gave Wedge a smile. "You're more nervous than I
am, Wedge."
"That's because I don't th ink you understand what's at
stake here, Tycho." Wedge got up and began to pace. "Your
trial is going to go forward and go forward quickly. It's
going to be used to show that the New Republic can be just
as hard on humans as the Empire was on non-humans. I have
to tell you, if Nawara here weren't already a lawyer, I'd be
looking for the best non-human counsel I could find for you.
The judges here are going to feel pressure to convict to seem
fair; I want the fact that your defender is non-human to
make them worry about how your being found guilty will
look."
"Captain, you might want to look into more competent
counsel than me."
Tycho shook his head. "No, Nawara, I want you. I've
read your file and I know you. This is going to be hard
enough without having a lawyer who wants the case for the
notoriety."
"Tycho's right, we need you. The squadron is behind
Tycho, and having you represent him means the rest of us
don't feel entirely impotent." Wedge's dark eyes narrowed.
"Do you see a p
roblem with defending him?"
The Twi'lek hesitated for a moment, then answered.
"I've defended a lot of people in criminal cases, but the
stakes have not been this high before, nor the opposition so
tough. Emtrey knows all the regulations, so having him in
court with me means I'll have a good grasp on the differences
between military law and civil law, but it would be better for
you to have someone who doesn't have to rely on a droid for
that stuff. The fact that I was down with the first stages of
Krytos during the alleged murder means I can't be called as a
witness of fact in the case--at least, I'd not call me, but the
prosecution might have other ideas."
He tapped a button on his datapad. "The prosecutor is
Commander Halla Ettyk. She's 34 years old and from Alder-
aan. She had gained quite a reputation as a prosecutor there
and happened to be off Alderaan to depose a witness in a
case when Alderaan was destroyed. She joined the Rebellion
and was part of General Cracken's counterintelligence staff.
She may not have prosecuted any cases over the last seven
years, but that's not going to dull her skills. Captain, you
don't happen to know her or have a family vendetta with her
family or anything that could let me suggest she has a conflict
of interest, do you?"
"Nothing, sorry."
"What about the tribunal?" Wedge stopped pacing,
crossed his arms, and looked down at the Twi'lek. "The sub-
poena I was served with yesterday indicated General Salm,
Admiral Ackbar, and General Crix Madine were going to
serve as judges. Salm has never liked Tycho. Can't you get
him removed?"
"Trying to get him replaced is tricky. If he does not
recuse himself, he clearly thinks he has no conflict of interest.
If we suggest he does and we fail to remove him, we've
poisoned him. The other thing to keep in mind is that Salm
was present at the first battle of Borleias and saw Tycho
flying an unarmed shuttle and rescuing pilots, including me.
He's got to weigh what he remembers against the evidence he
hears, and we'll be sure to remind him of Borleias."
Tycho nodded. "I'm willing to take my chances with
Salm. What do you think of the other two?"
The Twi'lek shrugged. "Ackbar agreed to have you serve